Convention delegates challenged to offer safe spaces in their communities; be engaged in the 94 calls to action of the TRC

Saturday morning, Convention delegates welcomed Kaila Johnston, research coordinator for the National
Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).

The NCTR opened in the summer of 2015 and was created to preserve the
memory of Canada’s Residential School system and legacy. The NCTR is
the permanent home for all statements, documents and other materials
gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).

“I’ve seen first-hand the effects of the colonial system of
oppression, and I have felt it as well,” said Johnston whose
presentation focused on the history of Residential School systems, the
TRC, the NTRC, as well as the long path forward striving for
reconciliation.

“In an underfunded, under-supervised system, there was little
protection for children,” she said. “Overall, residential schools often
amounted to a system of institutionalized child neglect.” (read the full story)

Convention closes with a message of liberation

The Right Rev. Jordan Cantwell, moderator of the United Church of Canada, issued an invitation to the fullness of life that the Gospel offers in her sermon at the closing service of the 16th Biennial National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC).

In her message to convention delegates, she observed that this invitation involves relinquishing status and power that actually holds us captive to that which is not gospel. “And when we let it go, we discover the life that God intends for us,” she said.

“A message of liberation is only received as good news by those who know themselves to be in need of liberation,” she explained. “It is only those who recognize their own captivity who embrace a message of liberation as a good thing.” (read the full article)